Spring 2003 Edition       

Three Friends Ready to Battle   Fair Lawn is part of the state's 38th district (the district runs from Elmwood Park to the Hudson River). There's two Assembly seats open this Fall, and three friends from Fair Lawn are battling it out.   They have known each other for years.  Ed Trawinski (former Mayor) and Matt Ahearn (former Deputy Mayor) served together on Fair Lawn's council and their daughters are close friends at Fair Lawn High School. Bob Gordon (former Mayor) supported Ahearn in his 2001 race for Assembly.  Gordon and Trawinski both served together on the River Road Improvement Corporation.   After Trawinski received the support from the Republican Party organization, it was Matt Ahearn who first announced the results and congratulated Trawinski on the Fair Lawn News Discussion Board.  Ahearn wrote " Welcome to the race Ed! Kiss those billable hours at the law firm goodbye"   But, it's not a local race that only people in our legislative district care about. Not by a long shot.   Ahearn was elected as a Democratic Assemblyman, in November 2001. He defeated long-time Assemblyman Nicholas Felice in the closest legislative race in the state, that year.  Earlier this year, in a public melodrama, Assemblyman Ahearn quit the Democratic Party and joined the Green Party. PoliticNJ.com reported Matt Ahearn's predicament, day-by-day. They wrote that Ahearn had lost the support of Democratic leaders in the State Assembly and Bergen County -- "party leaders in Trenton viewed Ahearn as disruptive in caucuses, while others said he was not considered a strong candidate."   For Assemblyman Ahearn's perspective, read the Fair Lawn News interview).   The state Democrat and Republican parties are paying a lot of attention to our legislative district, because both strong Republicans and Democrats have a good shot at winning here. The state Senate is now split evenly with 20 Republicans and 20 Democrats and Fair Lawn's district has the most competitive Senate race in the state.   Every legislative district elects two Assembly members and one state Senator. Besides Ahearn, our district also elected Republican Assemblywoman Rose Heck, and Democratic State Senator Joe Coniglio. This Fall, Heck and Coniglio are facing off for the state Senate race.   In the Fall, there will be a lot of money spent on advertising in Fair Lawn -- you might need to buy a bigger mailbox.